NL West Notes: Pollock, Miller, Hand, Kershaw, Cingrani

Diamondbacks center fielder A.J. Pollock is not healing quite as quickly as might have been hoped, Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reports, though there has been some progress made. Given that he still hasn’t been cleared to swing, and will need some time on rehab assignment thereafter, it seems reasonable now to expect that Pollock won’t return until some time in early-to-mid-July. He’s set for a CT scan Monday. The slow progress, clearly, is not great news for the Snakes, though the club has halted an earlier slide in the standings. and played better baseball of late. They’re currently leading a resurgent Dodgers club by 1.5 games for the division lead.

Here’s more from Arizona and the rest of the NL West:

As Piecoro further covers (both in that article and onTwitter), it seems that D-backs righty Shelby Miller is nearly ready to be activated from the 60-day DL. He has managed only a 4.66 ERA in four rehab outings, but is carrying an excellent 28:6 K/B ratio over his 19 1/3 minor-league frames thus far. Miller isn’t listed as one of the four starting pitchers for the upcoming weekend series against the Pirates, however, and manager Torey Lovullo didn’t provide an update on what is next for the right-hander just yet. Fellow righty Matt Koch allowed at least five runs for the fourth time in seven starts last night, though, so logically speaking, the D-backs could bump him from the starting five to accommodate Miller’s return.

Much as we’ve heard in prior periods of trade interest, the Padres seem disinclined to offer up closer Brad Hand for less than a compelling return. Per MLB.com’s Jon Morosi, via Twitter, the “likely asking price” on Hand will be a “young everyday player.” Morosi gives the example of Rafael Devers, should the Red Sox come calling, but there’s no evident reason to read that as more than a hypothetical. If anything, it seems the report stands for the proposition that the Friars are not going to be particularly amenable to considering packages consisting of multiple, far-off prospects. We recently rated Hand as one of the top ten players to watch at the trade deadline, but noted that the San Diego organization has little reason to simply take what it can get for a player who is under affordable control for a few more seasons after signing an appealingly priced extension over the winter.

Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw is slated to return after one single rehab start, manager Dave Roberts told reporters, including Ken Gurnick of MLB.com (via Twitter). There’s more uncertainty surrounding Kershaw than ever before, just as he prepares for an offseason decision as to whether to opt out of the $65MM guarantee left on his contract, as Tim Dierkes discussed in his latest version of MLBTR’s 2018-19 free agent power rankings. Whatever Kershaw ultimately decides — to head onto the open market, work something else out with the Dodgers, or simply not opt out — will be dictated in no small part by his health the rest of the way. His showing over the next few weeks will also have a major influence over the club’s deadline efforts.

Meanwhile, there’s less promising news on Dodgers lefty Tony Cingrani, also via Gurnick (on Twitter). Cingrani felt something in his shoulder last week and has had his rehab efforts slowed down for the time being. There’s no timetable on his return to the L.A. bullpen, creating even further uncertainty on the Dodgers’ pitching staff. Cingrani was lights-out for the Dodgers following a trade from the Reds last season, and while he’s been less effective thus far in 2018, his overall body of work since donning Dodger Blue has resulted in a 3.89 ERA and an impressive 64-to-12 K/BB ratio in 41 2/3 innings.

Probably should be the other way around…..the Padres wouldn’t accept only Devers for Hand. Its not a good match on many levels.
Devers is not living up to expectations in his first full in the majors, and his life expectancy at 3rd is seriously in question. His only other position would be first, which is a no go for the Padres, and last time I checked the National League didn’t have a DH which would be Devers only other possibility.
I’ve said it before, the Sox are going to have a difficult time trading unless they include a major league ballplayer of substance because their farm is EMPTY!

The Padres would jump at a chance to get Devers in a deal for Hand. Devers’ potential and what his numbers indicate are completely opposite. Devers was considered a top 10 prospect in baseball, so the upside is unquestionably there. Judge was years older than Devers when he broke out. He hasn’t lived up to expectations so far, doesn’t mean he won’t. He is also only 20, and he will improve on his .260 BA and 22 HRs in 494 ABs so far. If I were the Padres, I’d gladly trade Hand and Yates for Devers, and I’d be doing backflips if they accepted.

The Red Sox aren’t trading for Hand. So many teams out there could beat there offer. The Red Sox will pick up a rental reliever and that’s that. The Red Sox aren’t trading Devers for Hand. Devers is a 21 year old who has an extremely quick bat with massive power and pretty good hit tool. He seems to be adjusting to what pitchers have been doing to him and is looking better and better at the plate. Devers had a ton of errors early in the season but he is raining that in as well lately. In short the Red Sox aren’t trading Devers for Hand.

Red Sox need relievers for their postseason run. Mookie won’t be closing games or pitching in tough spots for them in October now will he!l??? What’s the issue here? Hand is an elite reliever and the Red Sox need bullpen help. Mookie is an elite outfielder and the Padres need hitting help. A one for one swap fills both teams’ needs!

Kershaw and the Dodgers should just extend him for three years after his current deal expires for the same price. The Dodgers don’t have to worry about his free agency and possibly replacing him, Kershaw gets a big contract and doesn’t have to worry about possibly getting lesser deals in free agency. That covers his best remaining years and he can possibly retire with the same team.

I agree. The Dodgers’ best position for the rest of the season is to let it play out. The ball is in Kershaw’s court, and he can either opt out or finish the contract. No point in adding more years and more money if they don’t have to.

A.J. Pollock is a great player when he’s on the field, but staying on the field has obviously been problematic. For that reason I don’t think AZ will put much energy into bringing him back after this season. Just curious to hear Dbacks fans’ take on whether they expect AZ to extend Pollock the QO or if they’ll offer him a deal in free agency.

Reason to trade Hand: package Myers and his stupid contract. There are very few position that padres do not have the player penciled in for the future. 3B might be a need. The rookie can hit…..so far….but his glove is lacking….ground balls are an adventure. They have raw talent for LF/RF and are trying to determine who is the keeper on a championship team. Green keeps saying Pirela is best hitter on the team….but he hasn’t hit for power yet.

They have next to nothing guaranteed for the future. Hosmer and Myers are the PAdres only two substantial guarantees on the books for the next 3+ years. I wouldn’t water down a return on Hand to dump Myers. They need to maximize their return if they decide to make a move. Eat myers money if it comes to that point, but in the mean time let him play.

Yeah I’d rather see them trade Hand by himself in order to maximize the return. Let Myers keep playing now that he’s coming back from injury. They can figure out what to do with him after the season is over because right now there’s too many other potential trade pieces that should be taking priority (Ross, Yates/Stammen, the OF logjam, etc.)

On a different note, the amount of trolls on this site is getting ridiculous. The majority of Hand-related comments in this article that are clearly trolling is stupid . The mods need to start deleting stuff like this if it’s not contributing to any meaningful conversation. I want to talk Padres baseball with other fans, not look at a bunch of juvenile nonsense.